Day 24

lördag.
hm, what a day.
we got up early and got ready. for rattlesnake rodeo.
it was quite a drive.
it was me, freddy and his parents.
i think the pictures will speak for themselves.
i had fun.
the night consisted of freddy cooking pasta and the movie law abiding citizen.
i would not recommend it.
smart but violent.
love becks

Day 21

onsdag.
okej. same day. but later.
today i was at the chickenhouses. pictures will prove this for those readers in doubt.
i learned so much.
the have eggs that are made for hatching. so not eating.
and i also learned what a blown chicken is. they can die from laying an egg that is too biig for them so that their insides come out.
freddy did his debut as a worshipleader. he did great. his guitar wasnt working for the first two songs. and then he found the volume button on the guitar i guess.
he did really good though. such a tough outset. did the first verse of you deserve with the drums in backbeat, the whiny pads and the intro guitar line being played over and over. and over.
i missed fuel and the keyboard in the 2nd aud.
however, kids were touched by God and engaged in worship. admirable considering all the circumstances. they didnt care about all the stuff that was going through my mind. they were just engaging with God and looking curiously at the weird person behind the keyboard.
love becks

Day 21

onsdag.
early morning still. the birds are singing and the sun is shining outside.
it makes me happy.
but now let me tell you about last night.
we had rehearsal with the youth worshipteam. and freddy was leading worship.
we did you deserve, your love is strong and the tags of the lifehouse song everything.
new guy on the drums, did well.
i was on pads. YES!
however i dont know if i would call that noise pads. more like a softly shrieking weird bird with a tremolo. yes, tremolo. whenever the attack was hard. and it was. cause there were no monitors. at all.
freddy did great. however the guitar went out of tune a lot. but thats not his fault.
i really like freddys moms sportscar. we have three cds in there that we listen to.
jonsi & alex, tear down the walls united and a mix cd with freddys latest likings. kings of leon, ryan adams, fleetfoxes, vampire weekend and the national are the chosen ones.
it fitts really well with our different car moods.
after the rehearsal yesterday we went to sonic.
whats sonic?
ill tell you.
its a drive in fa(s)t-food restaurant.
you park in one of the spots and theres a menu and a button there. you press the button, order and flying people on rollerskates come out with your food.
i actually liked the burgers. there were tots as well.
yeah. tots as in "Hey Napoleon! Give me some of your tots!"
they were more fried than they were potatoes.
i have discovered my favourite snack though:
chocolate chip cookies from walmart. they are delicious.
we didn't have any yesterday. and since my sugarintake has heavily increased i was in need of something sweet. so i poured myself a glass of homemade sweet tea and got a bag of m&ms. cause for some reason i thought i was ready for a real sugary american snack.
alas i was not.
i felt like throwing up the whole way to the church.
lesson learned.
ill stick with the cookies.
pics will come soon.

Engaged.

we are engaged!
we were driving home from a concert in Dothan.
freddy says that there is something wrong with the car and tries to get me to "listen to a noice".
he pulls over on a parkinglot next to a church.
im still sitting in the car.
he walks around the car "checking what could be wrong".
then he walks up in front of the headlights and looks at me.
he gets down on both knees and holds up a ring.
i stare at him for a bit and get out of the car.
it seemed like that was the normal thing to do?
a cop pulls over and turns his blue lights on and steps out.
just like any other american cop.
"what is going on here? is there a problem?"
freddy answers.
"no i just proposed to her"
"oh" was all that came out of the big bloke. and he got into his car and left.
freddy asked me the question again cause i had forgotten that he was waiting for an answer.
i said of course.
and then we drove home.
and listened to "Dear John" sung by Ryan Adams and Norah Jones.
and then there were phones, facebook, skype and twitter.
and a blog.
there will be a picture.
some time.

Day 17

lördag.
sick.
the whole day.
but now im better.
and we are going out tonight to see some bands with holly and brantley.
thats about how interesting this day is.
freddy made some food.
i miss sydney.
and i miss coffee.
but the sun is shining in alabama and sweden is just around the corner.
and on a day like this a photo can always add some flavour.
the sign says: where will you be sitting in eternity smoking or non-smoking?
love becks

Day 14

onsdag.
just got home from the youth service. very interesting day.
went over to church in ozark at about 4pm. chatted to the youthpastor Hunter for a bit.
then i went with the production guy to have a look at the lighting.
we were there for rehearsal last night so i had already seen the aud and thought of some ideas.
got a ladder out and repositioned all their lights (all parcans) and swapped around the five gels they had. turned out good. but then i started on the stage design and after a while i heard something drop. turns out the production guy had just dropped a parcan from the ceiling and everything had gotten bumped and repositioned. after a heavy sigh i convinced myself that it was alright and didnt matter.
we had a runthrough of the songs before the service. freddy made his debut on drums. i led from the piano. there was a pretty big team. bass, electric and four BVs.
we did freedom is here, how great is our God and tags from with everything. worship was extended and they wanted to keep doing the song. my hand has never been so sore from playing the same piano line for (and im not exagerating) 30 min. i kept looking over to wink at freddy. he looked so cute behind the drums. he did a great job!
afterwards we went to Applebees. appearently it is St Patricks Day today. for some reason most of the black women in the bar celebrated that by shaking their booties to R&B songs. i felt like i was watching a reality show.
love becks

Day 13

tisdag.
The day is still early.
Freddy is at the chickenhouse and im going horseback riding with his mom.
im wearing cowboy boots and a pink sweater that says mexico beach. the sun is shining and im pretty sure the wind would blow in my hair too if i went outside.
yesterday we had raw oysters. i had one and barely held it down. yuck. freddy had eleven, and holly had 24!
life in alabama is enirching.
i got one of those black and white journals that everyone has in the movies (butterfly effect, freedom writers etc).
i feel very.. eccentric?
im exploring the waters of my english vocabulary.
tonight we are going to freddys old youthgroups rehearsal.
worship team rehearsal and such for the service tomorrow night.
i think the idea is that we are going to give input in the areas we feel like we can.
it will be fun.
now im gonna giddy up and get myself down the stairs cause i aint got no time to sit around and write stuff for yall.
love becks

Day 11

söndag.
today we went to church. a different church to last weekend. this was a presbyterian church that freddys grandma goes to. it was very different to hillsong. i bet most churches are though. i miss it a lot.
then we had potroast with carrots, potatoes, corn and sweet tea at his grandparents home. on the same land as freddys. all the sisters were there and beautiful ella (niece).
both me and freddy had a cold, it takes a while to get use to the climate difference i guess.
its our 7 months anniversary so we are going on a date tonight. a japaneese steakhouse i think.
nothing to exciting is going on. just hanging with the family and relaxing.
i still havent gotten used to the food. so much sweetness.
i had a poptart for breakfast. they have been advertising it on tv for children to snack on. i guess that was ordained by dentists who are afraid that they will go out of buisness.
i feel like my teeth are slowly dissolving.
we were at an engagement party yesterday. one of hollys friends. really nice house. like, really nice. most houses here are nice. like, really nice.
love becks

Day 8

torsdag.
no post yesterday. too tired.
it was a fun day though. took freddys moms sportscar in to dothan and hung out all day. freddy fell in love, with a guitar. a vintage guild from 1975.
had a nice evening at home with the sisters baking cookies and having dinner. watched mall cop, a pretty funny movie.
today was a nice sunny day. i did a lot of reading and journaling and baked stuff with freddys grandma hazel. she's the sweetest.
freddy did the chicken houses a bit and hung out with his friend who is now a youth pastor.
we are gonna do acoustic worship for the next youth service on wednesday.
im think i will chat with the lighting operator a bit and set up a new stage design on tuesday night.
had a wonderful afternoon on the porch overlooking the land with the sunset. this place definitely has its ups.
at night we hung out with holly and brantley. he was cooking, a great cook might i add, and it was cous cous and chicken kebab bbq. we hung out and played some guitar and stuff.
they are really chill, love their company.
has been a while since ive been sitting outside with chilly dry air yet a warm feeling. love it.
wish i could see the colour opener, i have been curious. would wanna hear the services.
love becks

Day 6

tisdag.
A nice sunny day.
we cleaned the porch today, me and freddy. they have a big porch that overlooks the land and the chickenhouses. very beautiful. it was full of stuff. but not anymore.
then i went for a run. freddy mowed the lawn and did some stuff around the house.
i started the great divorce by CS Lewis.
in the evening we went to walmart with freddys mom and sister.
there were three big black guys that snickered at freddys skinny jeans, i overheard them.
i got the famous snuggie from the commercials.
me and freddy made tacos for the family and we ate together. really nice.
i got sick though.
love becks

Day 5

måndag.
me and becka had i big day today... met with my dad(fred) and had the whole day with him and my sisters. and neice Ella. It was like old times again, just with rebecka there trying to keep up with them. not me because im a great guy... becka stomach wasnt keeping up either, but later on she caught up with us, in fact, she beat me in a go cart race. then somr mini golf(puttputt). i don't even know who won, i just know the pond water looks like the water thats in portable pottey's. a few of Fred's chesy jokes, few of mine, some great steak. good stuff. i taught Ella the only swedish i know, i think she did them ok, just with a think country acceent. I think the funniest part of the day was when Beck and I were waiting for the go cart race to start, it was only us there. waiting... the guy start yelling us the rules. becka had no clue what was going on... i think she thought he was a retard...

Day 4

söndag.
today we went to church, the church that freddy used to go to.
the service started at 10 and we left at 12.15 and they were still going. we had to make it back for lunch.
it was.... interesting. i wont allow my mind to go free on this page with everything i thought. it would not be wise to do so. neither kind or useful.
but there were flags involved. and a preacher that started singing every once in a while. ive heard many different translations and ways of reading the Bible, but this was the first time i heard the singing version. she would start reading a verse in the Bible and finish it with a melody.
anyway, we went back home afterwards and watched some old family tapes.
the first one was freddys first birthday. he was adorable and there was a good five minutes on him trying to eat his piece of cake with his hands.
the next tape was a rockband performance. freddy was about six years old and played the drums. hilarious.
then holly came over with some pizza from papa johns.
at about 6 we drove into dothan to see alice in wonderland.
first we went to a bookstore with starbucks. the only coffee place there is.
having sonoma as a last coffee for a few days i dreaded it. and my fears were confirmed as soon as i sipped it.
i cant believe ive ever liked starbucks. i miss single origin coffee. we both do.
then we went to the movie with holly and brantley.
we ordered popcorn and freddy asked for extra butter. i had no idea you could even do that. and before my eyes they take a perfectly happy large popcorn bag (and large in america is like super extra large in any other country) and squirted about ten pumps of pure grease yellow butter all over.
she happily handed over the popcorn bag and it was like the grease and fat was blinding my eyes as it was drizzling over the now sad popcorns.
the movie was actually not as good as i had expected. kind of boring. nice sceneries, and of course johhny depp played his part. but it wasnt that convincing and captivating really.
we still had a good time.
afterwards we drove to taco bell. drive through. chicken quasadilla.
we are now home and freddy is looking up visas for sweden online.
thanks for tuning in
love both

Day 3

lördag.
freddy got up early to go to the chicken houses. they let him sleep in til 7, otherwise he would've gone up at four.
i had the morning to myself. sat on the frontporch in a swingchair in the chilly air with the sun in my neck. finnished screwtape letters finally. great book.
towards noon i saw a white truck coming up from the chicken houses. freddy leaned out of the window and let out a country shout.
we went into the city to try and get his phone working here. we left confused and unhappy and freddys mom got on the case when we got home. freddy laughed til he cried when he was listening at his mom trying to help him out.
"I dont wanna be a 20 year old boy that needs his mom to help him sort stuff out"
yet that was kind of what it was. haha.
then we went with his parents and sister to outback steakhouse.
and i realised why america is called the land of the free. it means free refills. being all swedish i wanted to finish everything that they gave me, but it was impossible! they just kept bringing me more! i told them to stop and they looked at me weird.
we are now gonna watch some old tapes from freddys childhood.
i cant wait to hear that country accent of his.
i would post pictures but i realised that i dont have a camera chord.
ill have to go to walmart and get one i guess.
just me saying that casually makes me laugh.
love beck

Day 2

fredag.
awoke to the smell of eggs and bacon.
breakfast is served by freddy roberts.
I knew I shouldn't have gone back to bed but I was too tired to care. I normally don't have any problems to get used to new times but it is harder to fly this way for some reason.
woke up again and went with freddy and his mom in the red truck to "the store".
"the store" is the store in echo.
everyone stares at me when i walk in wearing my ksubi jeand and blue cardigan. and they think freddy is a girl cause his hair is a bit long and he has skinny jeans.
i lean over the desk to see whats on the menu (cause everyone is eating lunch here). there's fried chicken, fried catfish, hushpuppies (fried cornbread), beans and some yellow potatosallad. i went over and got a soda and sat down. people turn their heads and peak up over their food. freddy says that i'm probably the first swedish girl to ever set foot in echo.
when we get back freddy takes me on his four wheeler and drives me around their land. it's big. and i got to drive for a bit.
later we met up with holly (freddys oldest sister), Brantley (her boyfriend) and a couple of their friends. we went to this amazing mexican restaurant in dothan.
after dinner we went to hollys house for a bit and played some music. turns out everyone except for one person in the company are songwriters. so everyone sings/plays a song. except for me. i'm too shy. they were really good! hollys sisters voice reminds me of lykke li/norah jones.
then we went to walmart to get some stuff (the cashier gave freddy his change and said "thanks, mam. sir. mam. sir?") and then we went home. on the way home i tuned in to the radio and heard some of the most hilarious country music i've ever come across.
i noticed that i'm picking up on the southern accent. scary.
love becks